Dire Maul » Zones » WoW Armory Light

Dire Maul is a three-wing instance found in north-central Feralas. It was once a proud Highborne city, but now lies in ruins, overrun by ogres, satyrs and undead. Only a tiny remnant of the original Highborne population remains in the form of a murderous sect called the Shen'dralar. The enemy level range is 54 to 61, making it one of the highest-level pre-Burning Crusade instances. Dire Maul was designed for parties of five, and characters must be at least level 45 to enter any of the three wings.

Dire Maul contains three wings in two instances. The wings are known as Dire Maul East, West and North. The West and North wings are contained in a single instance, and are connected via The Athenaeum.

At the center of Dire Maul, connecting the three wings, is an open plaza populated by ogres and containing a special PvP arena. This arena, consisting of a rectangular pit with entrances and exits on the east and west sides, is similar to the Gurubashi Arena in Stranglethorn Vale, in that "free for all" PvP combat is permitted within its confines. Every six hours, a rare mob spawns in the arena. These mobs drop BoE blue items.

The entrances to Dire Maul West and North are locked, and may only be opened with the Crescent Key, with a Powerful Seaforium Charge or Elemental Seaforium Charge, or by a rogue with Lockpicking of 300 or higher. The Crescent Keymay be obtained by killing the imp Pusillin in Dire Maul East. In addition to permitting access to the other wings of the instance, the Crescent Key allows characters to enter Dire Maul East via a short-cut at the Lariss Pavillion, located immediately north of Camp Mojache.

• Dire Maul East has been taken over by the nefarious Alzzin the Wildshaper, a satyr who has corrupted the Fruit of Fertility tree so that it produces vile . Alzzin has attracted all manner of corrupted plant life, satyrs, mages and demons to his cause. The entire district is overgrown with crazed plant life. Dire Maul East is considered the easiest of the three wings and requires no key to enter.
• Dire Maul West is haunted by the ghosts and skeletons of deceased Highborne, and is home to a variety of arcane creatures, including ancients and mana surges. Yet the most notable resident of Dire Maul West is Immol'thar, a demon imprisoned on this plane by Prince Tortheldrin. Millennia ago, the Prince, aided by his Shen'dralar loyalists, constructed five mystical pylons to bind Immol'thar so that they could siphon his energy to sustain their immortality. Warlocks must go to this prison and summon their dreadsteed for the quest. Tendris Warpwood, a corrupted Ancient of War, also resides in Dire Maul West. Alliance paladins must slay him as part of the quest in order to obtain their charger. In addition, Tendris Warpwood also guards the door leading from Dire Maul West into Immol'thar's prison, where players can also access The Athenaeum.
• Dire Maul North is considered the hardest, or, at the very least, the most interesting and unusual, wing of Dire Maul. The district is now occupied by a tribe of ogres known as the Gordok. Dire Maul is unique in that parties adventuring there have a choice. They may, in the traditional fashion, kill all the various bosses in the instance for some guaranteed rare drops, or they can use a series of crafting, questing and sneaking tasks to perform a "tribute run". In a tribute run the characters only kill King Gordok, ruler of the Gordok tribe, while keeping the other bosses alive. As a reward for sparing the lives of the other instance bosses, the characters receive higher quality, though fewer, rare drops from a tribute chest. In addition, the Gordok proclaim the characters as kings, which grants access to a variety of two-hour buffs and a special quest.